Troy Reeder’s football journey finds him in a starting role entering the 2024 season

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Rams linebacker Troy Reeder appreciated the connection he and Ernest Jones IV had when they were teammates.

Jones — who Reeder called “one of my best teammates” — was a rookie during Reeder’s third season, and they bounced ideas off each other. Reeder immediately saw things Jones did well when Jones arrived. Even though they had different playing styles, he realized he could learn from Jones, and vice versa.

With Jones’ trade to the Titans last week, Reeder is set for an expanded role. Rams head coach Sean McVay said last week that Reeder and Christian Rozeboom will be the team’s starting inside linebackers.

“Just trusting the process and how things unfold each year and that coach (McVay) is going to do the right thing and put us in the best position to win week in and week out and ultimately have the best team at the end of the year,” Reeder said. “So I’m going to miss him a lot. I’ve learned a lot from him, leadership-wise.”

The lessons Reeder will apply most quickly likely revolve around wearing the green dot, or the role of on-field defensive signal-caller. Jones had that responsibility last season as the primary communicator between the defensive coordinator and the rest of the unit; the year before that, it was Bobby Wagner.

Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said they’ll likely keep the green dot in the inside linebacker room. Reeder has done it before — he wore it for Los Angeles’ Wild Card playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals during that Super Bowl LVI-winning playoff run.

Reeder is open to repetition.

“I’ve done it before,” Reeder said. “I’ve worn it multiple times in the 2022 playoffs, and yeah, I mean, I do it every day in practice, and I think I can communicate at the highest level possible, and I would appreciate that confidence in me.”

Reeder’s initial stint with the Rams was from 2019-2021, first as an undrafted free agent out of Delaware. He then spent the 2022 season with the Chargers, then the 2023 midseason with the Minnesota Vikings before signing to the practice squad and eventually the Rams’ active roster in early September.

The Rams are the team that raised Reeder in the pros, and where he learned a lot. He learned even more when he reteamed with former Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley in 2022, and even more when he worked under Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores — complete opposites in scheme and philosophy — this past offseason.

“And so I feel like it gave me perspective as a player on a lot of things, and taught me a lot about what works versus other things that we might not have here, and how we can implement it, or how I can just implement it into my own game,” Reeder said. “In the process, I played with really good players, different guys at different positions, that I was able to take things out of their game and different things of that nature, that when I was able to come back, I felt like it was a great opportunity to start over here and have a whole new perspective on things after being in multiple other places. And in this role now, having been here before, I’m excited about the opportunity, and I’m excited about this team and what we can do this year.”

Processing the mixed emotions that come with taking on a larger role at the expense of a departing friend and teammate, Reeder said he left the team’s facility Tuesday night to have dinner with his wife and young son. While much had changed with that role and leading up to that meal, he kept things in perspective.

“It just felt like, the way they train you here, you’re ready for any opportunity that comes your way,” Reeder said. “… Just the perspective in life, I think, is something that as you get older, you feel like there’s so many things that are bigger than just football, but at the same time, you think, ‘This is your family, too.’ And it’s just a really big honor to be able to be out there with those guys and try to be a leader, be the best you can be for them, and play the best you can.”